German national jumps off ramp in IGI airport; critical

New Delhi, Aug 4: High drama played out in the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport when a 30-year-old German national tried to kill himself by jumping off from the departure ramp of the IGI late on Thursday night. The person has been identified as Peter Helmet Seidel and the incident occurred when he climbed the ramp near gate number 8 of departure and jumped towards the parking.

The incident came to light when a CISF personnel saw him climbing the ramp and alerted the police and other agencies. He was immediately rushed to the AIIMS trauma centre and suffered multiple fractures and head injuries. He is understood to be in a critical condition.

A senior police officer has been quoted as saying, "At 1:30 am Seidel jumped from the ramp. No suicide note was recovered from him and we have so far been unable to establish the reason of suicide. He is currently not fit to give a statement."

The officer added, "Before jumping from the ramp, he was seen walking in the area for over 15 minutes. Cameras installed there captured him walking outside the departure hall. We have asked for the CCTV footage of the taxi lane to trace the taxi in which he came to the airport. Through that we can trace the place where he was last staying."

The police have recovered a bag from the spot where Seidel's passport and ticket were recovered. As per the items found in the bag, he had arrived in India on Jul 24 on a tourist visa and had a valid ticket back on Aug 10. The officer claimed, "We have recovered a ticket to Bahrain by Gulf air from him. He was identified through his passport."

An attempt to suicide case has been registered and the police are in touch with German embassy officials who in turn are trying to contact his family members.